Truth Behind the Jokes
by Schiff Thomas
Summary: Bruce and Rachel as kids meet a young boy named Jon.... as adults they meet him again. But is he the same boy they knew? Or completely different? Characters: Batman, Rachel, Jon, Joker
1. Cards On The Table

Truth Behind The Jokes

Truth Behind The Jokes

"Mr. Wayne?" Alfred walked into the large room. "Have you seen young Bruce?" He asked. "I want him to meet someone." Mr. Wayne looked over to Alfred.

"No Alfred. Maybe check in the garden? I believe he's with Rachel last I checked. Who is this person you wish him to meet?" Mr. Wayne noticed a small boy almost hiding behind Alfred. He was maybe about five possibly six years of age. "Who is this?"

"This, Mr. Wayne," He said gently pulling the boy out from behind him. "Is my nephew Jon." He said. "Jon, this is Mr. Wayne, the man I've been telling you about." The boy looked up at him. He had deep hazel eyes and curly dirty blond hair that fell almost to his shoulders. He hunched slightly as he stared at him biting his thumb.

"You own Wayne Industries don't you?" The boy asked shyly. "Alfred's told me about it. Though he won't tell me what you do. He says it's grown up stuff and I won't understand. It's nice to meet you."

Mr. Wayne laughed. "It's nice to meet you too Jon." He said gently shaking the boys small hand.

"Come now Jon. We will find young Bruce." He said taking Jon's hand and leading him out of the room.

They entered the garden and immediately saw Bruce and Rachel.

"Ah, young Bruce." Bruce and Rachel stopped their played and looked towards Alfred.

"Good morning Alfred!" Bruce said. Rachel smiled at the man.

"Good morning Alfred." She said as well though a bit more calmly than Bruce had. They both ran up to Alfred wide grins on their faces. They both came short and frowned when they saw the boy behind him.

"Who's this?" Bruce asked staring at the hiding boy.

"Bruce, this is my nephew Jon. Jon this is Mr. Wayne's son, Bruce. And this is his friend Rachel." Jon smiled shyly.

"Hi." He said quietly.

"Why is he hiding?" Rachel asked.

"He's a little shy. He just started school the other week, he's been off to a rough start. I thought maybe I'd bring him here for you to play with him."

"What do you mean by rough time?" Bruce asked.

"The kids pick on me." Jon said. "They say I'm weird. That I'm a freak." Rachel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You look normal to me." She said.

"That's not what they think." He said looking down at the ground. "They don't want to be friends with me cause they say I have cooties. What ever that is." Rachel moved up to him and lightly poked him in the shoulder. He flinched from her slightly and watched as she looked at her finger.

"Nope….. No cooties. Come on. You can play with us." She said taking Jon's hand. "We'll be you're friend!"

Jon looked to Bruce who didn't seem all to happy about this. He just want to play with Rachel by himself. He didn't want this new kid coming into his home and stealing his best friend.

"Come on Bruce. Lets play tag!" Rachel said running into an open area of the garden.

"What's tag?" Jon asked. Bruce groaned.

"You're kidding right?" Bruce asked.

"Bruce!" Rachel said annoyed. "Leave him alone." She turned to Jon. "All you have to do is run from the person that's 'It' if the person that's 'It' touches you then you become 'It' and then you have to catch someone else." She explained to him.

"Sounds boring to me." He said.

"It's more fun when you're playing in a pool. But it's still fun out here." She said. "Bruce is it!" She cried out before running. Bruce looked around startled at the declaration, almost as stunned as Jon was. Jon paused and looked at Bruce before running away from him. Bruce of course went after Rachel. Jon paused and watched as Bruce chased Rachel. She evaded him with every turn moving around the large fountain. It wasn't long before he caught her and the chase was reversed. Rachel chased Bruce around the garden before pausing and going after him. Jon jumped and ran but it wasn't long before he was caught. Rachel ran so much faster than him.

Jon looked around to see if he could see Rachel but she had disappeared most likely hiding somewhere. Then he saw Bruce. He ran towards him but Bruce didn't move. Jon touched his arm making Bruce 'It'

"You're It!" Jon said as Rachel had before with him. Bruce just stared at him a moment before walking away to go after Rachel again.

Bruce finally found her and chased after her. Though from Jon's point of view it looked as if he was purposely letting Rachel get away. Almost like….. he didn't want Rachel to tag him again. Jon sat down in the grass resting his chin in his hand as he watched Bruce chase Rachel around the yard. Bruce didn't want him here, he could tell. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. After a few moments Jon stood up and moved back up into the house. He went to the kitchen to find Alfred and Mr. Wayne at the kitchen island drinking a hot mug of coffee.

"Jon my dear boy." Alfred said. "What's wrong?" Alfred picked him up and sat him down on his lap. "You don't want to play anymore?"

"Bruce doesn't want to play with me." He said resting his head on Alfred's shoulder.

"Bruce said that?" Mr. Wayne asked shocked. Jon shook his head.

"I could tell." He said. "Rachel wanted to play tag. He didn't want me to play so he made himself it and only went after her. But he'd purposely let her get away so that I couldn't get involved."

"I wonder what's up with Bruce." Mr. Wayne said. "He's never been like that before. That doesn't sound like him at all. I'll go talk to him." Mr. Wayne said moving from his chair.

Jon shook his head. "No, It's okay." He said. "Do you have a deck of cards I can play with?" Mr. Wayne looked to Alfred who shrugged and nodded. Alfred moved Jon off his lap and onto the chair next to him. He left the room and a few moments later came back with a deck of cards. He handed the deck to Jon who opened the deck and removed the jokers. He spread the cards out before picking them up again in his small hands and shuffled them. He then spread them out to play solitaire.

"He's a bit young to know how to play that isn't he?" Mr. Wayne asked. Alfred shook his head.

"He's a very intelligent young boy Mr. Wayne." He said. "He's very good with the cards."

"So Mr. Jon." Mr. Wayne said.

"Jon is fine." Jon said. "I don't like titles and Mr. Makes me feel old." Mr. Wayne laughed at the prospect of the boy feeling old.

"Alright Jon. So have you thought about what you want to be when you grow up?" He asked trying to make conversation with the boy. He knew the boy wouldn't know yet he was to young.

To his surprise Jon nodded.

"I want to be a police man." He said. "Like my father."

"Really?" Mr. Wayne asked.

"Yes. I'm going to be the greatest police man ever!" He said still not looking up from his cards. Once he finished his game he put the cards back in the box leaving the two joker cards out. He stared at them a moment before pushing them through the slit in the lid of the closed box, leaving the top half of them sticking out.

"Well then you best try to keep your marks up." Mr. Wayne said. "Try your very best in school."

"I do." Jon said. "School is too easy anyway. I don't really have to try."

"Is that so?" He asked smiling at Alfred. "What have you done in school so far?" Jon looked up at him.

"So far not much." He said. "Boring stuff like colouring. Nothing like the stuff in the books I read at home."

"You can read?"

"Very well." He said. "I can read chapter books already." He said. "Not like…. Very hard ones….. but I can. My mom started teaching me."

"And what kind of books do you read? Like what genre?"

"What's a genre?" Jon asked. Mr. Wayne smiled again.

"It's like the type of book it is. Like horror of fantasy or mystery."

"Oh. I don't read books like that. I think I've read one but it was kind of boring. I don't like things that aren't about real life. Things that have happened before." He said. "I like educational books."

Mr. Wayne looked to Alfred. _'What kind of kid his age likes educational books?' _He thought. _'Most kids want to play all day not sit and read.'_

Rachel came running into the room followed closely by Bruce. "Jon. Where did you go? Bruce caught me and I went to find you and you where gone." She said.

"I didn't want to play anymore." He said simply. He didn't want to say that it was Bruce that didn't want to play with him cause he didn't want Rachel mad at him.

"Oh…. Did you want to play something else?" Jon saw Bruce roll his eyes.

"Like what?" Jon asked.

"Hey I have an idea." Bruce said. "Follow me!" He said running back out into the yard. Rachel looked to Jon who shrugged. Rachel followed Bruce out soon followed by Jon.

"Kids." Alfred said making Mr. Wayne laugh.

Bruce stopped on the porch. "Okay Rachel you stay here. Jon, you come with me."

"Why?" Jon asked.

"Cause we're going to play a game dummy." He grabbed Jon's arm and pulled him along down the stairs. Jon followed behind and looked back to Rachel who looked equally confused.

Bruce pulled him along to the other side of the house out of Rachel's sight.

"What are we doing?" Jon asked.

"It's a game." He said as he lead Jon towards a small shed. "I'm going to find you and Rachel's going to have to find you." Jon smiled.

"Oh you mean like hide and seek?" Jon asked.

"Yeah, only you don't get to hide where you want to. I'll hide you and watch her when she tries to find you I'll tell her if she's hot or cold."

"What do you mean hot or cold?" He asked.

"I mean I'll say cold if she's no where near you and I'll say hot if she's getting closer." Bruce grabbed tightly onto Jon's arm and threw him into the small shed. He closed the door behind him. Jon looked around. It was dark. He didn't like the dark.

"Bruce!" He called. There was a small click from the other side of the door. "Bruce I don't like the dark!" He said trying to pull the door open. "Bruce! Let me out!"

Bruce returned to Rachel's side. He was limping slightly and paused to rub his knee.

"Where's Jon?" Rachel asked.

"He kicked me!" He said. "He kicked me and took off. I don't know where he went."

"What? Bruce are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said. "Lets go play in my room." He said.

"But….. maybe we should go find Jon." She said.

"Hey, if he wants to come back he'll come back." Rachel looked unsure. This didn't seem right. "Come on! I have a new board game we can play." He took her wrist and lead her back into the house.

"Bruce!" Jon called out. "Alfred!" Tears ran down his cheeks. He was scared. The dark frightened him. "Someone?!" He banged on the door. He called and called for anyone to help him but no one came.

Jon laid on the ground tears running down his face. "I'm scared." He said quietly to himself.

"Kids! It's time for supper." Alfred said. Bruce and Rachel came running down the stairs laughing a toy in their hands.

"Bruce?" Alfred asked. "Where's Jon?" Bruce paused. In their play both kids had forgotten about the young boy.

"Um…" Bruce felt his body stiffen in fear as Rachel looked to him.

"Tell him what happened." Rachel said.

"Um… he kicked me. And he took off." Bruce said.

"He what?" Alfred asked. "That's not like him at all, he would never hurt someone."

"Well he did."

"When was this?"

"This morning after we came and got him."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Bruce's father asked. "Where did he go?"

"I-I don't know." Bruce said. Alfred gabbed his coat.

"I'm going to go out looking for him." He said. Mr. Wayne nodded grabbing his coat as well. He picked up the phone and called the police. After the report was made he looked to one of the maids. "See that their fed. And that Rachel is taken home. Bruce I expect you to be in bed by eight tonight! No fuss!"

"Aw but dad!"

"Not buts this time!" He said sternly.

"Where do you think he could be?" Mr. Wayne asked. Alfred shook his head.

"He doesn't know this area I have no idea where he could have gone. If what Bruce says is true he's been gone almost eight hours."

"I don't understand. Why didn't they tell us?" Mr. Wayne asked.

"Come on. I'm going to go search the grounds maybe he just didn't want to play with them and found somewhere to hide."

"Has he done that before?"

"This situation has never happened before. His teachers have told me that he tends to hide sometimes. So it may be a possibility." Mr. Wayne nodded.

"I'll start on the streets. You go search the grounds."

"It's been thirteen hours now." Mr. Wayne said. "And still no sight of him." Alfred looked ultimately worried. Mr. Wayne had never seen Alfred this upset before. He put his hand on Alfred's shoulder.

"Don't worry so much Alfred. We'll find him." He said.

"What if something's happened to him?" Alfred asked. "This is all my fault. He didn't want to come here. If I had just listened and let him stay with his mother…" He paused.

"Don't worry about that now Alfred. We'll find him." They searched the grounds again. It was already dark out making it hard to see. They both carried flashlights.

The came up to the shed.

"Jon?" Alfred called out. "Jon answer me!" Mr. Wayne looked to the shed.

"Odd."

"What is Mr. Wayne?" Alfred asked.

"This shed wasn't locked before." He said. "I lost the lock to it ages ago and just use it to keep the thing shut."

"Jon?" Alfred called out. "Jon are you in there?" There was no answer. Mr. Wayne moved to the side of the shed and picked up an axe that leaned against it.

"Alfred move." He said. He hit the lock on the door but it didn't breakt. Once. Twice. Three times. On the third try the lock finally gave way. They pulled the door open.

"Jon!" Alfred said moving to the boys side. He lay on the ground dried tear streaks down his cheeks. "Jon. Wake up!" Alfred said. He put his fingers to his throat to check his pulse. "We need to get him to a hospital." Alfred said picking Jon up into his arms and making his way to the house. Alfred placed Jon on the couch as Mr. Wayne called an ambulance. As he hung up the phone he looked up to see Bruce looking down at him through the bars of the stair railing.

"You better have a good explanation for this boy." He said. Bruce looked shocked. Never in his life had his father ever called him 'boy'. He looked down at Jon who was pale as a ghost against the dark coloured couch.

Bruce sneered at him before moving back up the stairs and into his room.

TBC. Hope you all enjoyed chapter one….. no Jon is not an OC but his name is xD lulz can you figure out who it is yet?


	2. Love Ones Lost

(2 years later)

(2 years later)

"God of mercy,  
as we mourn the death of Miranda Kinley

and thank you for her life,  
we also remember times when it was hard for us to understand,  
to forgive, and to be forgiven.  
Heal our memories of hurt and failure,  
and bring us to forgiveness and life  
in Jesus Christ our Lord."

"Amen."

Jon stood by the coffin staring blankly down at it tears streaked his cheeks. He felt a hand on his shoulder but didn't look up at Alfred.

"Why?" He asked. "Why did he do it?" Alfred looked down to his nephew a sad look on his face. He was grieving just like Jon was, but tried to hide it. "Why didn't the police help her? They where there."

"Sometimes Jon…" Alfred paused not knowing how to explain to the boy. "Sometimes people make mistakes."

"Police don't make mistakes." He said. "Dad doesn't make mistakes." He said.

"Things happen. Things out of your control." Alfred sighed and took Jon's hand.

Jon looked to his father. He stood in his black suit looking blankly at the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. He moved to his dad and hugged him. His father didn't even look at him as he pushed Jon away moving away from the coffin towards a black car.

"Dad?" Jon asked. The man didn't answer him as he got in the car. Jon's tears ran down his cheeks harder. "Dad?" He called out. Alfred put his hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay." Alfred said. "Your father just needs some time. You can stay with me tonight."

"He thinks it's my fault." Jon said almost as if he had come to the conclusion. He shook his head. "It was my fault."

"No…" Alfred said. "No it wasn't your fault."

"It was my fault…. If I hadn't….."

1011011001101

"Jon!" Jon looked up from his book. He sat on his bed reading a copy of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' by Victor Hugo.

"Yeah?" He called.

"Come down stairs." Came the woman's voice again. "I have a surprise for you!"

"Coming mom!" Jon put the book on the side table and ran down the stairs. He practically skipped into the living room and paused when he saw his mom.

"What's that?" He asked going up to her. She looked down at him and smiled.

"It's a kite!" She said pulling the sticks out of the wrapper. "We'll take it out after supper."

"Can we go out now?" Jon asked excited. "I wanna see it."

"No, we'll eat supper first. I'll take you to the park after."

"Please…… please?" He begged. His mom sighed.

"If you promise when we get back you'll eat your vegetables." She said. Jon nodded.

"I promise."

They quickly put the kite together and made their way to the park. Jon ran with the kite and threw it up into the air but to his dismay it crashed into the ground. Jon looked at it upset. His mom laughed and picked it up.

"Let the string loose some and go farther away." She said. "I'll throw it up and you pull on the string." Jon unravelled some of the string and ran down the field.

She watched as Jon ran and lifted the kite up. Once the string pulled a little she threw the kite up.

"Pull Jon!" She laughed as he pulled on the string of the kite. The wind caught it and it lifted higher and higher.

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Jon said laughing. There was a sudden scream from a nearby house. There where police sirens off in the distance that got louder and louder by the second. Jon stopped pulling on the kite string the kite falling to the ground after a few moments. His mom ran up to him.

"What's going on mom?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said as she put her hands on his shoulders. "Lets go home." She said. She gently ushered Jon back onto the path towards their house.

"My kite!" Jon said half way down the path. He moved out of her hands and ran down the path.

"Jon!" She said. The sound of gunfire echoed through the air. "Jon!" She screamed and ran to her son. Jon grabbed the kite as his mother ran up to him. She grabbed onto his arm. "Lets go. It's danger-" She was cut of as another shot of gun fire echoed.

"Mom?" He asked. He turned to her to see her kneeling next to him staring at him her eyes wide. "Mom?" He asked. She didn't say anything a few moments but looked as if she where trying to. The words didn't form as she fell sideways onto the ground. He knelt down next to her. "Mom!" He asked. "Mom get up!" He said rolling her onto her back. "Mom?" Tears ran down his face. "Mom wake up! Please! We have to go home!"

Jon moved away from her falling backwards over the kite. "Mommy?"

1011011001101

"Jon, it wasn't your fault." Alfred said. "You couldn't have known." He said. Jon looked away from Alfred.

"I wanna go home." He said. "I wanna be with my dad."

"I think it would be best if you stayed at my house tonight." He said. "Alright? We can watch your favourite movie." He said. "We can go home and I'll put on Little Nemo and serve some ice cream. How would you like that?" Jon whipped his nose on the sleeve of his suit. He shook his head. Alfred sighed quietly. He didn't know what to do to help Jon. In less than a week he lost both of his parents. One physically one mentally. He'd talk to his brother-in-law about Jon. But the man didn't seem to want anything to do with the boy. He didn't even look at him.

"Come on. I'll take you home." He said leading him to the car.

1011011001101

"Jon!" Rachel said running up to him. It had been a little over two years since she's seen him. "Jon I heard about your mom." She said. "I am so sorry to hear that. I don't know what I'd do if-" She paused realizing that Jon wasn't responding. "Oh I'm sorry." She said sitting next to him. "Do you….. do you wanna talk about it?"

Jon shook his head.

"Oh…."

"Where's Bruce?" He asked.

"Upstairs in his room. He's not allowed out when you're here. Not after you ended up in the hospital for a week cause of what happened."

"Oh…. I won't be staying long anyway." He said. "I'm moving back in with my dad tonight."

"Oh…." She said silently. "Will you come back and visit?" Jon shrugged.

"Where are you going?" He finally looked up at her.

"I'm going to Boston." He said. "My dad can't afford the house he's in anymore. He bought an apartment there." He looked back down.

"Well promise me." She said. "Promise me that you'll come back one day. We can be pen pals if you want."

Jon nodded. "I'd like that."

"Do you promise?" She asked. "That I'll see you again one day?" Jon smiled slightly.

"I'm sure I'll come back. And the day I do…. I'm sure we'll have a blast."

TBC…. Get it….. blast….. kaboom….. hospital…… nm….. bad joke xD


	3. The Begining of the End

((1 year later))

"Jonathan!" Jon sat in his small room. It was barley ten feet by ten feet. The bed took up the majority of the room; all his books and papers making the room look almost like a storage room instead of a bedroom. "Jonathan!" He groaned as his father stumbled drunkenly around the apartment. "Boy!" His father called, his voice dripping with anger. He didn't want to answer his father knowing what would happen but he also knew that if he didn't it would be so much worse. He put the book he was reading down and left the room.

"Yes?" He asked seeing his father in the small kitchen.

"Come here boy!" He said. "How do you explain this?" He asked pointing to a broken lamp that was lying on the floor. His father had knocked it over in his drunken stupor but obviously didn't remember. "Well?"

"I'm sorry dad." He said. "It was an accident." He knew by now that he should just accept the blame. Telling his father that it was him that did it wasn't the best of ideas.

"An accident?" He asked. "An accident? Just like it was an accident you killed your mother?" He asked.

"I didn't-"

"Don't give me that 'it wasn't your fault' bull shit." He said slapping Jon. Jon fell to the ground. He didn't bother to get back up he knew it was useless. His father fumbled with his belt a moment before he finally pulled it off. He folded the belt in half and kicked Jon onto the stomach. Jon moved onto his hands and knees knowing the usual routine.

He felt the first bite of the belt against his skin making him flinch. He didn't scream. His father, for every scream, added another lash to the unnumbered lashes he received on a nightly basis.

Jon's back throbbed. He could feel his own hot blood running down his skin, the lashes adding more lines to his already scarred back. Tears ran down his cheeks and still he did not scream.

"You're worthless you know that?" His father yelled. It was the same words every night. The same words, the same belt. It was like he was stuck on a scratched record skipping back every time it was played.

"You'll never amount to anything."

Jon knew he should keep his mouth shut but the words slipped out. "Just like you?" He asked.

The last thing Jon saw was the bottom of his fathers shoe before he lost consciousness.

((Seven years later))

"Happy Birthday Jon." Jon looked over to see one of his co-workers walking towards him. "How's the big sixteen?" He asked. Jon shrugged.

"No different than yesterday." He said. He turned the speaker of the head set down so that it wasn't in front of his mouth anymore but under his chin. He handed out the last bag through the drive thru window and watched as the ugly yellow car pulled away.

"Oh come now." He said. "You don't feel…. I don' know… more grown up?" Jon looked to him his head tilted as he leaned sideways against the drive thru wall.

"I've felt grown up since the day my mother died." He said rolling his eyes. "You know I've only had myself the majority of my life."

"Yeah I know. Just like a lot of us here. You know most of our background stories man. Yours ain't so strange." He slapped Jon's ass hard and walked away.

Jon jumped though more from the slap than surprise. "Hey!" He said. "That shit ain't free!" He yelled across the counter. Normally he wouldn't speak like this at work in fear he'd get fired, but the restaurant was empty and the managers gone for the day. His co-worker whom he calls Bick on a count of the fact that him and one of the other guys in the back do nothing but bicker all the time. The other co-worker he dubbed Banter. To be honest he didn't even remember Bick or Banter's real names. The only way he knew was by looking at their nametags. If they wore them.

Jon looked over to see one of the new girls he worked with cleaning some of the tables. He moved back slightly so that he was hidden by the drive thru wall. He watched her a few moments as Bick came up to him again.

"Beautiful ain't she?" He asked. "When did she start?"

"Last week." Jon said.

"And I'm sure you haven't been able to keep your eyes off her eh?" He laughed. "Have you asked her out?"

"No." He said. "Why would she want to go out with a freak like me?"

"You're not a freak Jon." He said. "Not all the time anyway." He said laughing. "Go ask her. There's a Halloween dance this Friday isn't there?" Jon nodded. "Go see if she wants to go with you."

"But I don't dance." Jon argued.

"You'll learn! Go ask!" He pushed Jon in her direction as she was coming towards them with a few trays. He crashed into her and both of them toppled to the floor.

"Oh my god!" He said trying to help her up. "I'm so sorry are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." She said getting up. Jon glared at Bick as he picked up the trays.

"Hey, um…. I was just wondering." Jon paused as he stood up with the trays and pushed the swinging door open to put the trays in the back. "There's a Halloween dance at my school on Friday and I was just wondering if you uh…. Maybe…. You know….." The girl smiled.

"I'd love to go with you." She said.

"Really?" He asked shocked. "I mean….. yeah…. Great."

Jon watched as she walked away from him to collect more of the tables from previous customers.

"Quit staring man…. She could still cancel on you." Bick laughed. Jon shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts and jumped slightly when he heard a beep on the headset.

"Welcome to A&W drive thru what can I get for you?" Jon asked walking back up to the drive thru till. He leaned on the side of it as he rang in the persons order and sighed after he turned off the headset. The rest of the week was going to be long.

1001001001001

((Halloween night))

(ding dong)

Jon waited on the front steps playing with his tie. He looked down at his hands as they shook.

"Calm down Jon…. She's just a girl." He sighed and put his hands in his pockets and then thought better of it and just hung them at his sides. The door was opened and he looked up at a tall man at least five inches taller than him and about twice his thickness if not more.

"Um…. Hi…. Is…….. Chastity home?" The man almost seemed to snarl as he opened the screen door to let Jon in.

"Honey, your date is here!" The man called upstairs in a deep voice. The man was very intimidating though whether he did that on purpose or that was just his natural demeanour he didn't know.

Chastity came down the stairs and smiled when she saw him. She wore a black dress with purple trim. A green necklace was around her neck and from her ears hung two little gold hoops.

"Chastity you look….. awesome…." He said mentally kicking himself. Chastity laughed.

"Thank you Jon." She said smiling. "I just have to grab my purse I'll be right back." She headed into the living room leaving Jon alone with the man. He walked up to Jon and backed him against the door.

"You make her cry…." The man warned. "And I'll make you cry!" Jon gulped audibly as the man walked away. Chastity came back into the room and smiled at Jon.

"Are you ready?" She asked. Jon glanced at the man again before nodding. "I'll see you later daddy!" She called before taking Jon's hand and leading him out of the house.

"Don't mind my dad." She said as they walked down the street. The school was only about a block away from her house, in walking distance. "He can be a bit…. Protective." He laughed nervously.

"I can see that." Jon said.

"Did he pull the whole 'you make her cry I'll make you cry' bit?" Jon nodded. "Yeah he does that a lot. Specially with…." Jon looked at her as she paused.

"With who?"

"No one…" She saw the school and smirked. "Hey look! They put out jack-o-lanterns. She said running towards the school. Jon raised an eyebrow in confusion before taking off after her.

She walked along the front of the school looking at each pumpkin in turn. She laughed at some of the dorky looking ones.

"Must have been done by the art class." He said. Chastity nodded. "Yeah…. Hey look there's mine!" She said pointing to one. It had a picture of a bat on it.

"Why a bat?" He asked. Chastity shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess I just don't see why bats are considered as Halloween thing." She said. Jon raised an eyebrow.

"I don't get it." He said looking down at the pumpkin. Chastity shrugged.

"I don't know. It's like…. I know in my head but I can't explain it. You ever have been in that situation?" Jon shook his head.

"No…. I don't talk to people much so I don't really need to explain my thoughts." He moved away from the pumpkins and towards the main doors. "So, just out of curiosity. Did anyone else ask you to the dance?"

Chastity shook her head. "No…. one guy was supposed to ask me out but…. He didn't want to come."

"What do you mean he was supposed too?" Jon paused and paid for both his and her pass in. Their hands where stamped and they made their way into the dance.

"Just a bit of a warning I can't dance." Chastity said. Jon noticed how she had avoided the question but decided not to press the issue.

He smiled. "That's okay, neither can I."

Despite Chastity's claming her inability to dance, she turned out to be a wonderful dancer. He had a hard time keeping up with her but held his own.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Chastity asked. Jon shook his head. "What was your first kiss like?" Jon paused and looked down at his feet embarrassed.

"I've uh….. never been kissed before." Chastity looked shocked.

"Never?" Jon shook his head.

"Not yet." He sighed and shrugged. "Some people just-"

"Hey freak!" Jon paused and looked over to see three boys coming towards them. He recognised one of them, it was Duncan LeBlanc. He was in a grade higher than him but had the intelligence of a fifth grader.

"Duncan. What do you want?" He asked.

"What are you doing with-"

"Duncan! I thought you said you weren't coming!" She said.

"I heard you where coming with this freak. Thought I'd come investigate."

"He's not a freak Duncan. He's a very sweet young boy." Jon scoffed.

"Thanks." He said sarcastically.

"Aw did you hear that boys, he's a very sweet young boy." The guys around him laughed.

"Just lay off Duncan. I'll talk to you on Monday!" Duncan glared at Jon a moment.

"I'm watching you!" He said. "You touch her you're good as dead!" Duncan said moving away from them.

"Why was he so-"

"Can you take me home Jon?" She asked. "I don't want to be here anymore." Jon looked at his watch. It was nine thirty anyway. Almost his curfew.

"Yeah, come on." He lead her out of the dance.

"Thank you for inviting me."

"Thank you for tolerating my awful dancing." Jon said laughing as they walked along the side streets of Boston back towards her house.

They walked in silence, Jon's hands shoved deep in the pockets of his faded dress pants. She stopped walking causing Jon to stop as well.

"What's wrong Chastity?" She shrugged.

"I just… I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all you've done for me tonight."

"Me? I haven't done anything special." He said. "Other then step on your toes a few times." He said laughing. She shrugged.

"It's the not having done anything I like." She said. "All the guys I have gone out with at some point try to get in my pants. You haven't even tried to kiss me yet." She smirked.

He looked down at the ground suddenly shy. "Yeah well… I'm not so good at this whole dating thing…. So…. Even if I wanted to I wouldn't know where to st-" He was cut off as she panted a quick kiss to his lips.

He didn't say anything a few moments as if he where in a daze.

"You know…. That was my first kiss." He said smiling slightly.

She smiled. "I know." She smirked. "You know…. I like it when you smile. You should smile more." He smiled again and leaned forward to kiss her again. "Jon look out!" She cried. Jon turned around just in time to see the two by four connect with his forehead. He fell back into Chastity knocking her into the wall behind them.

"Duncan!" Chastity cried. "What are you doing?"

"I told this freak if he touched you he was dead." His two friends grabbed Jon's arms and held him in place. Duncan punched him hard in the stomach. But just like his fathers punishments, Jon didn't cry. Didn't make a noise other than the air rushing from his lungs.

"Duncan what is wrong with you!" She moved up to Duncan and grabbed onto his arm trying to stop him. Duncan pushed her back and hit Jon again.

"So what makes you think you can take my girlfriend to a dance and get away with it?" Duncan asked.

"Your…" Jon looked to Chastity. She covered her mouth. The hurt in his eyes was just heart breaking.

"I'm sorry Jon." She said as Duncan hit him again. "Duncan, stop this!"

"What's the matter Jon?" He asked. "You sad that you didn't get to fuck her?" He laughed. "Or are you upset cause I fucked her first?"

"Duncan!" Chastity cried.

Jon didn't make any sound as Duncan hit him again. He pulled a knife out of his pocket and grabbed onto Jon's face. "Why so serious Johnny boy?" He asked laughing. He put the knife to Jon's throat.

"Duncan please…. Stop!" She cried. Jon used the boys holding him up as leverage to lift himself up and kick Duncan back. The force pushing against Duncan pushed the two boys back forcing them to let him go. Jon jumped up and ran.

"Get back here you fucking freak!" Duncan yelled. He pulled himself up from the ground and chased after Jon. It wasn't long before he caught him. "You think that's funny? You think you're fucking tough?" He stood up letting go of Jon and pulled a thin stripped wire out of a near by garbage can. Jon stood up and tried to run again.

"Oh no you don't." Duncan put the wire so that the ends where in each of his hands. He put the cord around in front of Jon trying to wrap it around his neck. As Jon ran forward he pulled back, the cord wasn't low enough and caught in Jon's mouth. Duncan laughed as he pulled back on the cord.

"Duncan stop!" Chastity cried. She could see blood coming from Jon's mouth from where the wire was being pulled at the sides of his mouth. "Duncan you're hurting him!"

"He ain't screaming." Duncan said laughing and pulling back harder. "Probably don't hurt much."

"Duncan you're such a fucking idiot stop!" She screamed. Jon's eyes started to blur from the pain as Duncan pulled back harder, the wire hooking up into his teeth cutting the gum between. He finally cried out. He could feel blood flowing down his face as his whole body shook from the pain. He could feel tears spring to his eyes and could hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance before Duncan let him go. He fell to the ground as Chastity ran up to him. She was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness.


	4. Letters of Destruction

_'Dear Rachel,_

_I'm writing to tell you that you won't be seeing me anymore… I have taken…'_

Jon paused wondering what he should write. He shook his head and tore out the paper. Crumpling it up he threw it into the trashcan.

_'Dear Rachel,_

_I know it's been a while since I've written you. I've been through a lot these past few months. More than I'd like to even mention. But…' _Jon paused again biting on his pen. _'I know when I left there I said I would return. But I won't be.'_ Jon paused and shook his head tearing the paper out to join the other one. It made him sound like he was committing suicide. Jon paused before banging his head on the desk. He didn't know what to write.

He ran the tip of his fingers over the white bandages over one side of his mouth. How would he tell her.

Simple….

Jon looked at the blank white paper before touching his pen back down.

1001001001001001

"Rachel dear. Come downstairs please." Rachel pinned up her hair as she made her way down stairs.

"Yes mom?" Rachel asked. Her mother stood at the bottom of the stairs holding a few envelopes in her hand.

"You have a letter here." She said as Rachel reached the bottom of the stairs. Rachel took the letter from her mother. "Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes Rachel." Her mom said moving away from the stairs.

"I'll be down." Rachel said making her way back up the stairs. She looked at the envelope. There was no return address. She entered her room and sat at her dresser as she pulled it open with the small letter opener that sat in a cup on her dresser.

She pulled it open and began reading.

_'Dear Rachel,_

_I'm sorry I haven't written you in so long. I've been through a lot these past few months. But I'd like you to know that I'm all right. My dad is the same as he's always been. I know you know about him from past letters. He's gotten worse since all this happened. I'm not going into details about it but a guy from school attacked me. I was in the hospital for nearly three months going through surgeries and what not. They had to teach me how to talk again and even now it's awkward for me. My voice has changed oddly enough. Or maybe it just sounds that way cause of the way I talk now. It still hurts. But I will be fine. I'm just writing to, as I said before, tell you that I'm all right…_

_And that this will be the last letter you will be receiving from me."_

Rachel paused and closed her eyes. 'No.' She thought to herself. 'Please Jon no…' She turned back to the letter.

_"I'm really sorry for being so forward about this. But I really don't want you seeing me like this. I don't want anyone seeing me like this. My dad is trying to talk me into going back to school, I don't want to. Not like this. Besides….. why does my education matter anymore. Not like I can get a good job looking like this. I think my dad just doesn't like to look at me anymore. Not that he ever did after…_

_I'm sorry I shouldn't be ranting through my letter like this, I'm sorry. I will miss you dearly. Even though I've only met you the one time, I feel like I've known you forever because of our letters. I've kept every one of them and I'm sure I'll be reading them in the future. I will miss hearing from you._

_I'm moving as of next week, I'm not sure to where yet. My dad doesn't know yet but I'm sure he'd rejoice at my absence. I'm changing my name as well, so don't try to look me up. It would just be a waste of your time. I just…. I just want to disappear. You know? I've told you before in previous letters, there are times I wish I had never been born. I wish that now more than ever. But I'm dealing with my situation as I think I should, and I'm happy with my decision._

_I'll give you one piece of advice as a parting note. One of the guys at my work told me this._

_'Never apologize for the way you look.'_

_It never made sense to me…. Not until now anyway. I will miss you dearly, Rachel._

_From"_

The word from was crossed out and she smiled sadly as tears streaked her cheeks.

_"Love_

_-Jon"_

She closed her eyes as she cried. "Jon… No… Why would you do this?" She couldn't figure out what would have caused this. He should have known she'd accept him no matter what. She'd help him.

_'Just like you helped him with his mother's death?'_ Her mind rang.

_'That was different.'_ She said. _'He left… there was nothing… there's nothing I can do now either.'_

Rachel closed her eyes and moved to her bed. She laid down and read the last words she'd be hearing from Jon over and over.

"He's changing his name." She said. "He's changing his name, I'll never see him again."

She read the letter over and over her tears worsening with every word she read... To the point where she couldn't read it anymore.

TBC.... Sorry for such a short chapter. Can anyone guess what Jon is changing his name too? xD


	5. Maroni's boy

AN: so what do you all think so far? Good? Bad?

I'm taking it as a good considering you're still reading lulz….. anyway ONWARD HO! ((claps once and points dramatically)) yeah ok I'll just start the story ((sulks))

1001001001001001

Jon sighed and slung his army green rutty looking bag over his shoulder. He looked down at his fake passport and sighed. The face that looked back at him surprisingly held many similarities to him, but still. It didn't take a genius to figure out it wasn't him. With any luck though, Gotham's airport employees wouldn't ask to many questions.

He stood in line waiting to buy his ticket. It had been hell and a half trying to get the money without his dad finding out. Most of it he had stolen from his dads wallet, the rest… Jon didn't want to think about what he had to do for it. He ached in places he didn't know he had just thinking about it.

"Hey kid!" He jumped when the guy behind him nudged him forward. He looked back at him a moment before looking back at the ticket lady who looked quite irritated. She had clearly called him a few times. He nervously walked up to her playing with the passport in his hands.

"I'd like a ticket please." He said nervously. She glared at him as she chewed her gum.

"To where?" Jon paused.

"Oh um…. Boston." He said simply. She held out his hand for his passport. "Oh…" He laughed nervously as he handed her the passport. He could tell she was trying to avoid looking at his face. But once the passport was handed over, she had no choice. She looked up at him, trying not to look at the abrasions on his face. She handed the passport back.

"You're flight leaves at four thirty five pm. And will arrive in Boston at six o' five pm the same day." She said typing more into the computer. "You're total comes to ninety four dollars and fifty cents after tax." Jack looked slightly shocked.

"I only have eighty." He said. She shrugged.

"Then I guess you're out of a flight." She said as she typed more into the computer. "I can help the next person over here." She said to the next person in line. He sighed and moved over to one of the benches.

"You look upset." He looked up to see sleazy looking skinny guy as he sat next to him. "You miss your flight?" Jon shook his head.

"I don't have enough for my ticket." He said.

"Oh…. Where you going?" The man asked.

"Away." The man looked down at Jon's single bag.

"Ah… yeah I know that feeling." He said leaning back in his chair. "What's your name kid?" Jon looked up at the man. He didn't like the vibe this man was giving off. He didn't trust him.

"Jack." Jon said. "Jack Napier." The man smiled and held out his hand.

"Sal Maroni." He said holding his hand out to shake Jack's hand. Jack looked at him a moment before shaking the man's hand. "I'll tell you what. I'll give you the money you need for your ticket." He said with a smile. That smile told Jon the man clearly wanted something.

"What do you want?" He asked. "For this ticket?" Jack was sceptical about what the man wanted. Maroni stood up and moved closer to Jack forcing him to stand up in kind. Maroni put his arm around Jack's shoulder and lead him away from the benches.

"Not much…" He said. "Just a little…. Payback for it." He lead Jack to the washrooms. Jon knew where this was going.

"How do I know you'll give me the money?" Jack asked wiggling out of the mans grip.

"Trust me kid." He said. "I'm a man of my word." He laughed. Jack stared at him still not trusting him. The man smiled and pulled out a small wad of cash. He took out a fifty and put it in Jack's pocket. "There's a bit of a down payment." He said. "Do it right…. And I'll give you more." Jon looked at the wad of cash before looking at Maroni.

"How much more?" He asked. Maroni smiled and shrugged.

"Well…. That depends on how good you are kid." He laughed and led Jon into the men's restroom.

1001001001001

Jon…. Or…. Jack now…. Sat on the airplane. He was shaking noticeably from his experience with Maroni. After the man was done in the restroom he offered to take Jack out for lunch. Jack, not having eaten anything in nearly fourteen hours, agreed. The man had offered Jack five hundred dollars… on the condition that Jack would go with him, and stay with him the night.

For five hundred dollars Jack had agreed. It had been the worst mistake of his life. He was torn and bleeding he knew. He could still feel the pain. Could feel the blood. He felt the money in his pocket as the plane moved forward. He closed his eyes as tears threatened to fall. He swore right then, that no matter what. Money would mean nothing to him.

He stared out the window at Gotham as the city faded out of view. He momentarily wondered if his father even noticed he was gone. Probably not. He sighed and leaned back in his seat and groaned as the kid behind him kicked it a few times. He was just about ready to turn around and snap at the kid when his mother stopped him with a quiet 'stop'.

He looked up at the little flashing seatbelt light and sighed. He watched for what seemed like forever before the light finally turned off. He took off his seat belt and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"Scared of flying?" He looked over to the old lady that was seated next to him. "My son is afraid of flying too." She said. She patted his knee. "You have nothing to worry about. You're perfectly safe." Jack scoffed.

"Yeah… I'm sure there was some old lady saying to that another kid on flight ninety three." He said. She looked exasperated a moment before turning to speak to her husband leaving Jack in peace.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the window, hugging his knees close to his chest. As he sat there, he thought about his mother. About what his life would be like now if she where still alive.

Would he be on this plane right now? Not likely. He'd be at home, maybe talking on the phone with his girlfriend. Planning a double date with one of her friends. He wouldn't have these scars on his face…. Wouldn't be a freak. He felt tears fall down his cheeks. He wanted to go home. Wanted to be with his mother. But that would never happen. His mother was dead his life was shit.

He had no control over that. Jack took a deep ragged breath.

'_No control.'_


	6. Jack Napier

"Alfred?" Rachel ran into the Bruce's holding the letter in her hand. "Alfred?!" She called out.

"Rachel? What's wrong?" She looked up to see Bruce standing at the top of the stairs, his hair wet, a light grey towel loosely around his shoulders.

"Bruce! Where's Alfred?" Bruce raised and eyebrow in confusion as to why she wanted to see him.

"Um… he was out in the garden last I saw." Rachel ran past Bruce as he came downstairs. She ran through the hall to the garden. She made her way outside and saw Alfred in the middle of the garden making his way towards the green house.

"Alfred!" She called. Alfred paused and looked back to Rachel. He smiled when he saw her.

"Ah young Miss Dawes." He said and nodded her in greeting. "How are you today?" He paused when he saw the tears running down her cheeks. "Miss Dawes. What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's Jon, Alfred." She said finally making it up to him. "He's…. he's gone." She said.

"Of course he's gone." He said laughing. "He moved quite some years ago, you know that Rachel." He said.

"No I mean… he's run away from home." She held out the letter to Alfred. Alfred took the letter looking at her oddly before reading it over.

"I haven't heard of any of this." He said. "I'm going to phone his father." Alfred said. He handed Rachel back the letter as he made his way back to the house, Rachel one step behind him. "Master Bruce, if you wouldn't mind as to allow me to use your phone." He said. He had never used the house line before and felt it necessary to ask permission. "It's somewhat of an emergency." Bruce nodded and motioned to the phone.

"Yeah… go ahead." Alfred quickly dialled the number and waited for the phone to pick up.

He heard someone on the other line pick up the phone, fumbled it a bit before he heard a grumbled 'what?' from the other end.

"Mr. Crowley?"

"Yeah what do you want?" The mans gruff voice asked.

"I'm phoning about your son. My nephew."

"Alfred?" The man asked. "What about him?" Alfred took the letter back from Rachel and looked it over as he spoke.

"When was the last time you talked to Jon?" Alfred asked.

"What that little shit? Haven't seen him in almost three days." He said. "Why?" Alfred was shocked.

"And you're not in the least bit worried about him?"

"Why should I be? He does this all the time, comes home eventually." Mr. Crowley said his voice clearly annoyed.

"I have a letter here from Jon. And I suggest you listen." He said. "Jon wrote to Rachel saying that he was moving." He said. "He said he didn't know to where yet and that you didn't know. He said he was changing his name. So this time, Jon is not coming back."

Bruce stood watching Alfred as he spoke. He was shocked by the man's tone of voice. Alfred had always been calm and understanding.

"Maybe you should stop thinking about yourself for a change." Alfred said.

"Well what the hell do you want me to do?" Alfred groaned.

"He's a sixteen year old run away boy. You used to be a police officer, use that brain you haven't used in years." Mr. Crowley scoffed.

"Why? More use to me gone. Save me some money." Alfred looked livid.

"If you had no intention of taking care of that boy why did you take him with you all those years ago?" Alfred asked.

"Because he's my son!" The man yelled at him.

"Then act like his father." Alfred said into the phone. Alfred hung up, waited a few moments before calling another number. "Hi… I'd like to report a missing person."

1001001001001001

Jack sat in a small café eating a strawberry poptart as he read a local newspaper. He could hear the couple next to him talking about a demon sighting in a near by abandon church and rolled his eyes.

"No way." The girl said.

"It's true I saw him!" The guy said defensively. "He was blue and had a spaded tale and his eyes glowed a scary yellow colour!" The guy said. He turned to Jack. "You believe me eh man?" Jack looked at him a moment before looking back down at his newspaper. The employee from the café came up to him as he washed a glass.

"Hey kid, no outside food in here." He said. Jack looked at him a moment before taking a sip of his paid for coffee. He cleared his throat and shoved the last piece of the poptart in his mouth. He smirked at the man and turned back to his newspaper.

The volume on the near by television was turned up slightly as a news report came on the screen.

'_Gotham authorities have received a missing persons report. A sixteen year old boy by the name of Jonathan Kelvin Crowley has been allegedly missing for nearly three days now. Authorities as anyone who has seen this boy, to contact the Gotham police.'_ Jack grimaced as a picture of him popped up on the screen. The picture clearly, pre scar, was taken about a year ago. Even if it had been taken sooner no one would likely recognise him.

With the lacerations on his face, his hair had grown out, his body stance had changed… by this point… he was nearly unrecognisable to anyone who didn't directly know him. Or at least that's what he hoped.

He looked up at the man that worked in the café as the man looked up at the picture of him. He looked over to him and raised and eyebrow.

"What's your name kid?" He asked. Jack looked at him.

"Don't see how it's any of your business." He said, perfect… maybe he was still too recognisable.

"If you don't want me to be calling the Gotham police and reporting you as him, you be telling me you're name."

"Jack Napier." He said.

"You got ID?" Jack rolled his eyes and got up from his seat. "Hey kid…." Jack stopped and turned. "You watch out for who you run into eh…. lots of crazies around here love to get their hands on a little run away such as yourself."

Jack glared at him a moment. "I'll keep that in mind." He stepped out of the café and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. His bag slung over one shoulder he made his way down the street. He walked past the abandoned church and paused to look at it. He laughed as he took out a can of white spray paint from his bag. Moving up to one of the wooden boards used as a fence to keep people out he wrote "Nature Laughs Last." In big letters. He looked up and jumped slightly. He could have sworn he saw something move in the window of the church.

"Naw couldn't be." He said putting the paint back in his bag and moving away from the church.

((So does anybody know who he saw in the church? xD lulz anyone? anyone? I'll give a cookie to the first person who gets it! xD))


End file.
